Auburn University CWD in Alabama Study

[catherinecummings]

Hi all! My name is Catherine Cummings and I am a PhD student at Auburn University leading the implementation of this survey. I have been working with some scientists here at Auburn who have been examining issues surrounding Chronic Wasting Disease, and with the recent discovery of CWD in Alabama, we were hoping to develop a better understanding of Alabama deer hunters’ concerns, desires, and attitudes. Understanding what YOU as a hunter in Alabama want in regards to CWD will help ultimately improve the ability of agencies and managers to meet the needs of both hunters and wildlife. We have developed a survey for deer hunters to help us collect this information, and we are hoping that you will take some time to fill it out (and maybe even pass it to some other fellow hunters to help us increase our sample size). If you would like to fill out this survey, click HERE.

If you are not a resident of Alabama but HUNT in Alabama you are still eligible to take this survey! All information in this survey will be anonymous, and will not be shared with any other group. However, summaries of the data generated will be made public in report form. This project is being conducted solely by personnel in the School of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences at Auburn, and is being financially supported solely by Auburn. No outside organizations are involved in the funding, development, or implementation of this survey.

If you have any questions, comments, or concerns please feel free out to me at cac0235@auburn.edu. We really appreciate your time, respect your point of view, and want to understand it.

 

[Offroadtek]

Can do.

 

[Jim Boyd]

Hi all! My name is Catherine Cummings and I am a PhD student at Auburn University leading the implementation of this survey. I have been working with some scientists here at Auburn who have been examining issues surrounding Chronic Wasting Disease, and with the recent discovery of CWD in Alabama, we were hoping to develop a better understanding of Alabama deer hunters’ concerns, desires, and attitudes. Understanding what YOU as a hunter in Alabama want in regards to CWD will help ultimately improve the ability of agencies and managers to meet the needs of both hunters and wildlife. We have developed a survey for deer hunters to help us collect this information, and we are hoping that you will take some time to fill it out (and maybe even pass it to some other fellow hunters to help us increase our sample size). If you would like to fill out this survey, click HERE.

If you are not a resident of Alabama but HUNT in Alabama you are still eligible to take this survey! All information in this survey will be anonymous, and will not be shared with any other group. However, summaries of the data generated will be made public in report form. This project is being conducted solely by personnel in the School of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences at Auburn, and is being financially supported solely by Auburn. No outside organizations are involved in the funding, development, or implementation of this survey.

If you have any questions, comments, or concerns please feel free out to me at cac0235@auburn.edu. We really appreciate your time, respect your point of view, and want to understand it.

Excellent interaction.

I do not hunt AL but do IL and we worry about deer borne disease every year.

CWD and EHD.

 

[GottaGetOutdoors]

Good work, Catherine. War Eagle!

 

[catherinecummings]

Thank you all so much!! This is very appreciated!! I'll be sure to share a link to the results once they are ready on here...(will likely be at least a few months out, but I'll put them up once it's ready!). Once again, thank you all so much!

 

[specialk]

this thread might be ''sticky'' worthy....thanks future Doctor!!

 

[zaraspook04]

Ms. Cummings...first and foremost, thank you for this work. At the root of your work, you are taking steps to preserve the deer population for many states.

I would gladly take your survey, but I do not hunt in Alabama (the thought to hunt in Alabama has certainly crossed my mind!).

I will offer this advice...Many of us "average Joe's" know just enough to get us in trouble, but not get us out!!!! Meaning...because we know CWD is terribly bad and can have drastic implications, we voice our opinions without actual factual data. The more educated the "average Joe" (myself included) can become about CWD, the less likelihood we have of spreading information that is not based upon fact...scientific/evidenced based research. The more educated we become about CWD, the reasoning of not transporting dead deer across state lines becomes embraced. I know, I know...deer don't know state lines...but we do and should adhere to the rules and regulations established by state wildlife agencies.

My ask is this (I'm sure the majority on this absolutely wonderful and amazing GON forum)...educate us "average Joes" in a way in which we can understand CWD. Sometimes the scientific research is presented in ways not understood/comprehended because of the scientific jargon that is used. The more the "average Joe" is educated, the greater likelihood, probably exponentially, there is in combating the spread of CWD, and, in turn, preserving the deer herd of many states.

Thank you for your work...I am looking forward to the findings of your research!

 

[Tlen]

tried to would not take my date of birth

 

[bany]

So I did the survey sitting on stand. I’ll reserve other comments.

 

[Dupree]

I just did the survey.
On one question, it asked if the discovery of cwd would make me stop hunting. I said no, as I will hunt next year, but I did stop this year simply because I was about burned out and my household had already killed 9 between Georgia and Alabama, and I didn’t want to go through the inconvenience of deboning one in the woods to bring it home.

 

[Throwback]

War Eagle!!

 

[GottaGetOutdoors]

Zara made an excellent point about the need to inform the Average Joe about CWD. Fortunately, it is already in place. The Chronic Wasting Disease Alliance is the central clearinghouse for reliable and timely information about CWD. It is a collaborative effort among researchers, wildlife agencies, conservation organizations, etc.

Visit www.cwd-info.org. Click the "Learn" tab and you will find a wealth of info that explains in layman's terms what we do and do not know about CWD. There are instructional videos too. Then click the "Hunters" tab to read through the frequently asked questions. It's all there so you can inform yourself as much as you care to learn.

 

[zaraspook04]

@GottaGetOutdoors The website you listed has a wealth of info, as you stated. I've been there several times watching and reading. I had completely forgotten about it until you listed it above.

I actually found it accidentally. In my research for hunting out west, I came across the website. As I stated, I found it accidentally...as a derivative of something else.

If we can be pro-active instead of re-active with CWD, maybe we can keep it out of Ga. However, most folks will never find the information needed to educate themselves about CWD.

How about a CWD sticky????? We can provide research, links, etc for factual data that is easily found by all the folks on this forum and those doing a search for CWD info.

Another thought, and not to change the focus of this thread!!! I wonder what percentage of Ga hunters are members of the GON forum?

 

[catherinecummings]

tried to would not take my date of birth

I'll check on this right now.....updating currently! For AL rules and regulations you have to be 19 or older to participate! Otherwise it should work (4 digit number)

 

[catherinecummings]

Ms. Cummings...first and foremost, thank you for this work. At the root of your work, you are taking steps to preserve the deer population for many states.

I would gladly take your survey, but I do not hunt in Alabama (the thought to hunt in Alabama has certainly crossed my mind!).

I will offer this advice...Many of us "average Joe's" know just enough to get us in trouble, but not get us out!!!! Meaning...because we know CWD is terribly bad and can have drastic implications, we voice our opinions without actual factual data. The more educated the "average Joe" (myself included) can become about CWD, the less likelihood we have of spreading information that is not based upon fact...scientific/evidenced based research. The more educated we become about CWD, the reasoning of not transporting dead deer across state lines becomes embraced. I know, I know...deer don't know state lines...but we do and should adhere to the rules and regulations established by state wildlife agencies.

My ask is this (I'm sure the majority on this absolutely wonderful and amazing GON forum)...educate us "average Joes" in a way in which we can understand CWD. Sometimes the scientific research is presented in ways not understood/comprehended because of the scientific jargon that is used. The more the "average Joe" is educated, the greater likelihood, probably exponentially, there is in combating the spread of CWD, and, in turn, preserving the deer herd of many states.

Thank you for your work...I am looking forward to the findings of your research!

Thank you so much for these kind words! I am planning to write up the results in a scientific article with minimal jargon as well as hopefully be able to create and distribute more easily digestible for the "average" person as well!

 

[tcward]

War Eagle!!

??

 

[sleepr71]

??

IKR! I’m amazed at how well she is doing,with just an Auburn edumacashun?! Catherine,Thank You(and your team) for doing this,and spreading as much knowledge as you can

 

[catherinecummings]

Hey all! Again thank you to those who have participated in the survey so far! It is so appreciated and I am looking forward to looking analyzing the data.

I know there were a few comments about being able to view the ADCNR Public Meeting, which they have made publicly available HERE on their youtube channel!

Again, thank you all so much!

 

[uturn]

Done!